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So when you add it up, it starts to become real money. And you can see how critical the research amount is for the operating budget. Research mostly comes from the government. And the way it works is it'll be an agency, the National Institute of Health or a group like that will write a check to the university. The fiduciary of the university is the board of

So when you add it up, it starts to become real money. And you can see how critical the research amount is for the operating budget. Research mostly comes from the government. And the way it works is it'll be an agency, the National Institute of Health or a group like that will write a check to the university. The fiduciary of the university is the board of

directors of the trustees so that the check gets written to them but it's really being sent to the researcher who came up with a really good idea that impressed a lot of people and made it through a really intense vetting process and the nih or whoever decided this is such a good idea we want to fund this research That money goes to the board and then the school is going to keep a chunk of it.

directors of the trustees so that the check gets written to them but it's really being sent to the researcher who came up with a really good idea that impressed a lot of people and made it through a really intense vetting process and the nih or whoever decided this is such a good idea we want to fund this research That money goes to the board and then the school is going to keep a chunk of it.

They have something called the facilities and administration. And that can be north of 50% because that pays for the labs and the administrators and the electricity. And there's a lot of things that go into running a university. What's left over pays for the grad students, the researcher, whatever is needed to do the research itself.

They have something called the facilities and administration. And that can be north of 50% because that pays for the labs and the administrators and the electricity. And there's a lot of things that go into running a university. What's left over pays for the grad students, the researcher, whatever is needed to do the research itself.

One of the things that the Trump administration has done is said, we don't wanna pay 50, 60 percent in facilities and administration. We want that limited to 15 percent. So that was one of the first things that Trump did. And it really threw a monkey wrench in the budgets of these universities because that money is used by the university to keep the lights on. And it's fungible.

One of the things that the Trump administration has done is said, we don't wanna pay 50, 60 percent in facilities and administration. We want that limited to 15 percent. So that was one of the first things that Trump did. And it really threw a monkey wrench in the budgets of these universities because that money is used by the university to keep the lights on. And it's fungible.

If that money is suddenly getting cut by two thirds, that's just less money coming into the system. And, you know, it has to come from somewhere else.

If that money is suddenly getting cut by two thirds, that's just less money coming into the system. And, you know, it has to come from somewhere else.

So Trump is using a new set of tools to pull grant money. They created this task force that's looking at the contracts that the researchers have received, and they're canceling or freezing those contracts, using language in the contracts, as opposed to going through the Title VI procedures. The Title VI is a civil rights, you have to go through certain things in order to stop funding that way.

So Trump is using a new set of tools to pull grant money. They created this task force that's looking at the contracts that the researchers have received, and they're canceling or freezing those contracts, using language in the contracts, as opposed to going through the Title VI procedures. The Title VI is a civil rights, you have to go through certain things in order to stop funding that way.

So there's a different tool being used, and that's part of why this is sort of legally on new ground.

So there's a different tool being used, and that's part of why this is sort of legally on new ground.

The faculty, the AAUP, which is the Union for the Faculty at Harvard and at Columbia, has filed a lawsuit on the ground that the Trump administration does not have the right to cancel research grants and to tell them what to research and what to teach on campus, that that's a violation of their First Amendment rights.

The faculty, the AAUP, which is the Union for the Faculty at Harvard and at Columbia, has filed a lawsuit on the ground that the Trump administration does not have the right to cancel research grants and to tell them what to research and what to teach on campus, that that's a violation of their First Amendment rights.

And we're moving into uncharted territories here, so the courts are going to have to weigh in on this.

And we're moving into uncharted territories here, so the courts are going to have to weigh in on this.

Right. So there's two actors here. There's the researcher and there's the institution. So there's less money for the institution. So they're figuring out how to cut back. For the researchers, it's calamitous because this is their entire income stream.

Right. So there's two actors here. There's the researcher and there's the institution. So there's less money for the institution. So they're figuring out how to cut back. For the researchers, it's calamitous because this is their entire income stream.